Polaris Challenge

Last weekend was a first for me, some kind of major undertaking, two days of mountain biking around the Peak picking up preorganised check points. Saturday was a seven hour course and Paul and I decided to go on an "Eastern Loop" starting from Bamford and working our way down to Haddon Hall via Houdskirk, Blacka Moor, Chatsworth etc, then back up to Bamford via Stoney. everything was going OK until I had a burst tyre wall which ultimately cost us time and points because we arrived back late.
Sunday was better, with new tyres and a different route and only five hours to play with we opted for a route through the White Peak going as far south as Tideswell, across to Chapel and up on to Rushop Edge and Mam Tor.
For the first one of these that I've done we did OK finishing a respectable 57th, 155km covered!
We've got a bit to learn tho as the winner Steve Heading had more than double our points tally.
Great thing to do as we got to visit and link up loads of bits of the Peak I had never walked or ridden + I realised just how much of the area I had worked in over the years.
Great views, great weather well organised event. Looking forward to the next one.
click here to view photos from the event

Using Blackberry as Modem for Laptop

Often working out on site and away from the office it is sometimes necessary to have access to the internet. We can pick up emails via our Blackberry 8310 devices but sometimes need to look at web pages or email attachments in more detail, which can only be done on a decent sized screen.
Our accomodation when we are away often has wireless internet access but this can't always be relied on.
The Blackberry 8310, along with some other models has an in built data-modem that, in theory can achieve download speeds of 115.2kbps, not bad considering we used to all put up with dial-up speeds of 56kbps. Connection speed is very dependent on signal strength.

The following link explains how to set up your laptop so that it can use a Blackberry device as a tethered modem.

HOWTO: BlackBerry As Modem For Laptop

One of the issues that I have found with doing this, is that the USB cable connection into the Blackberry can be very temperamental. Any slight movement of the Blackberry or cable can cause a drop in connection. This seems to be a common complaint and not just my device. The only real solution to this, is to make sure that you position the device on a firm surface where it won't have to be moved,... not always possible when in remote areas and are having to stand on one leg and wave the phone about at the window to get a signal.

Legacy Habitat Times - Latest Newsletter

Our latest Legacy Habitat Times newsletter is now available for download from our news page, along with previous issues:
Click image below:



Providing recent news of our newt fencing, water vole fencing and other wildlife fencing activities.

Unimog Maintenance

Its maintenance time again...
"Unimogs are great bits of kit,... if you look after them."
A phrase we have heard many times since taking delivery of our U1600 Mercedes Unimog from Atkinson VOS Ltd.
As with any vehicle of 25 years there is always going to be some issues to address.
Ours had started producing some smoke from the exhaust after working particularly hard on a water vole fencing job in Essex. There was also a fairly strong smell of partially burnt diesel. This called for some examination of the big block of iron at the heart of the beast... the 6 litre, 6 cylinder engine.

First of all, we had to raise the cab to give all-round access to the power unit. Unimogs do have a removeable bonnet and front grill but this only gives partial access to the engine.
On examination we discovered that our Unimog didn't have the necessary hydraulic, hand-pumped ram fitted to raise the cab so we had to use an arrangement of lifting gear and lifting straps to do this job. Suprisingly few pipes, cables and other services required disconnecting before raising the cab. Only the air intake pipe from the air filter, and a couple of heater hoses.

With the cab raised it was possible to get clear access to the top of the engine. We employed our local mechanic, Ryan from 'The Garage' to do the engine work for us. Rocker cover was removed and diesel injectors prised out of the block. These were sent away for testing. Diesel injectors should produce a nice uniform spray pattern, testing showed ours to produce more of a dribble. This clearly explains the smell of partialy burnt diesel and reduced engine performance. New diesel injectors were fitted and diesel filters replaced to help protect these new injectors.

Lowering the cab was more tricky than lifting. First of all we had to ensure that the splined steering column shaft lined up with its other half (The steering column separates when lifting the cab). It was then a case of very gently lowering the cab to its mountings whilst a collegue checked that no wires, pipes, fingers or other bits n bobs were going to be trapped when the cab came to rest.

Once the cab was back sitting on its mountings, the 4 securing bolts on the floor pan, inside the cab, could be put back in place. 3 of the bolts went in ok but one could not be located due to a very slight misalignment of the cab. The cab must have twisted very slightly on its pivot points when lifting. With 3 of the bolts in place, we started the engine and drove a short distance to allow the vibration to seat that cab correctly, enabling the 4th bolt to be fixed.